Patience is a virtue. But good things are worth the wait. After first proposing to the Citizen Corps Council the vision for the ResilientALX Charter nearly a year and a half ago to address the vulnerabilities in our City, it makes me very proud to see how it has grown into a Charter that would be adopted by Alexandria City Council and embraced by our City Staff. My vision, spawned from an increasing understanding of our community vulnerabilities and from the model laid by the Eco-City Charter of 2008, could never have become a reality without the contributions of each member of the Citizen Corps Council. But in particular worth praise are Marjorie Windelberg, CERT Coordinator, and Taryn Wilkinson, Vice-Chair of CCC, both of whom stepped up to be co-chairs of the ResilientALX Subcommittee. After many meetings and working sessions in which the three of us flushed out a strategy, […]
Live Positively by Managing Your Ego
Living positively is a cornerstone to a good life. Whether you’re at work, the gym, or at home; having a positive mentality opens your world to happiness, opportunity, and success. Now as much as we want living positively to be as easy as remembering to look on the bright side of things, it’s not always that easy. Living positively requires an incredible amount of discipline, commitment, and often external support. Now assuming that all of that commitment doesn’t scare you off, let’s take a look at what’s in store when you decide it’s time to live positively. 1. You have to learn how to live positively. High-five for stating the obvious! But, seriously, living positively is a constant effort that requires a commitment to consistently learn and apply new techniques that work for you. Just as each of us changes as time goes on, so too must we adapt our […]
The Do Less to Do More Paradox
As humans, we are voracious. A byproduct of our constantly buzzing minds is an insatiable appetite for more. We are rarely satisfied, and there always seems to be something else that must be done. As we’ve conditioned ourselves to overload our to-do list, unproductive time can feel tortuous. Personally speaking, periods of idleness can feel more anxious than restorative. But valuing our time doesn’t mean we must constantly be on the go. Nor, does it mean we shouldn’t set aside time to relax, absent of work. I have found that the most effective way to achieve a happy medium of peace-of-mind and productivity is maximizing efficiency during work while protecting our free time. This balance allows us to complete tasks efficiently while ensuring we can spend time completely removed from those tasks where we often find new insights. One thing is certain: it takes a lot less time to do a lot […]
If You Love What You Do, Say It with Confidence
Full disclosure: I was inspired to write this because I I know that if I put it on paper (or screen in this case), I will have to follow my own advice. So in advance, thank you for entertaining me in my self-conditioning. I have failed to say what I do confidently more times than I can count. Simultaneously, I love what I do. Let me say again; I LOVE WHAT I DO. I spent years of punching the clock: arriving at 9:00 am, leaving at 5:00 pm, dreading waking up, dreading dealing with certain people, dreading the time I knew that I would be wasting while watching a clock, dreading calling a certain account, dreading telling people to buy something I wouldn’t buy myself, rationalizing to myself that it would all alright, and trying to cope. At that time, I did not love what I did. In fact, I […]